Freedom, We've Got A Problem
by Lone Wolf NEO
Summary: A routine training mission goes awry when Kira and Athrun are ordered to engage unidentified units. And truth is never this painful as our Ultimate Coordinator learns the reality behind the encounter. Oneshot. Alternate title inside. Rating changed.


**FREEDOM, WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM  
A.K.A. KIRA LOST TO A GIRL? **

_"Freedom just bagged another bandit!" _

_"Good job, Kira. Three more targets to go after and this mission will be accomplished. Keep at it!" _

The Ultimate Coordinator nodded. Today's training mission, he thought, was ridiculously easy: engaging some unarmed drones and passing checkpoints in record time was not something he would expect from Archangel's Training Department.

"So what's next?" calmly Kira asked as he headed to the final checkpoint.

"I don't know," answered Athrun from onboard Infinite Justice. "Say, Kira. Is it just me or does something happen to Archangel today?"

Kira laughed. "What are you talking about, Athrun? A training mission is a training mission, remember?"

"You're so calm, Kira. I envy your attitude," Athrun murmured.

The two Mobile Suits arrived at their last checkpoint. They could see their targets lying up ahead -- three unmanned blimps with bright orange marking. Athrun cooed at their final objective, but not so for Kira.

_"Kira, Athrun, try competing with each other to shoot down all targets,"_ Lacus explained. _"Winner will be determined by whoever shoots them down first." _

"That sounds more like something out of video game, Lacus," Athrun retorted. "Are you sure you're alright with this?"

Lacus giggled. _"Athrun, you won't have lunch if you keep on complaining."_

Athrun sighed. "Even you act rather off-character…"

"Let's go, Athrun," Kira spoke.

"You lead the way, Kira," Athrun replied.

Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice deployed their weaponry. They wasted no time as they charged at the targets, outrunning and outwitting each other to be the first to finish the mission. It was as if they were taking things for granted as their mock duel extended to ground

_"This is Archangel. Freedom, we've got a problem." _

Kira dodged Athrun's pounce. "This is Freedom. Archangel, situation report."

_"We're detecting two unidentified objects headed toward your position from coordination B6E-K11. Please intercept them. They might be enemy." _

"Now, now, who wants to look for trouble with us?" Athrun mumbled.

"Athrun, it's best that we investigate," Kira replied and flew back. "Cover my back."

"Alright, alright."

Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice moved in. They were approaching the location, and the unknown flying objects their radar registered were becoming closer. While Athrun became restless at the prospect of new enemy, Kira remained calm and composure, calculating every piece of information on the UFOs with caution.

"Kira, the things! They disappeared from our radar!"

"What?" Kira glanced at the radar scope. The UFOs were no longer there! "Athrun! Be careful! They might be using optical stealth! Use Justice's heat seeker!"

"Roger!"

Infinite Freedom moved away from Strike Freedom and scanned the airspace, whilst Strike Freedom itself deployed its beam rifle. Minutes passed, and yet the UFOs were undetectable even via Infinite Justice's heat seeker.

"I can't find them!" Athrun yelled.

"Athrun, behind you!"

Infinite Justice turned around.

"Watch out!"

Whether that something was crashing onto Infinite Justice on purpose or by accident, Kira could not tell, but as soon as he dashed to get Athrun the Mobile Suit was sustaining heavy damage. "What the hell was that?"

_" Archangel to Justice. Is there something wrong? Your unit is registering damage." _

"It's not the end yet…!"

Infinite Justice brushed Strike Freedom's hand off its shoulder. It deployed Shining Edge and swung blindly in front of him. It appeared Athrun was trying to hit the unidentified object that had rammed onto him.

Again, the unidentified object (or objects, as Kira recognized it as robot of sorts) crashed on Infinite Justice. The dark red Mobile Suit was ripped off sub-flight lifter, losing its right limb due to the impact from the crash.

"Athrun!"

Crippled, Infinite Justice left Strike Freedom and made a long journey back to Archangel. "Sorry, Kira. I'm disengaging from battlefield…" Athrun apologized. "I leave the rest to you."

"Damn it…"

Kira's fury was fuelled. Not able to accept Athrun's defeat to the strangers, he entered SEED Mode and sent Strike Freedom into an overdrive. He paid the opposing pilots no chance as he deployed DRAGOON and pursued after the two robots. He opened fire after fire, and yet none of them actually scratched the robots.

"Don't play around with me!!"

Kira withdrew Super Lacerta. He used the DRAGOON to bait the two robots into his attacking range, and he managed to catch one of them off-guard. He charged at the blue robot and delivered multiple sword attacks, and he was infuriated to see none of the jabs touching the robot. Moreover, the pilot seemed to make no attempt of counterattacking and merely evading Strike Freedom's attack, further enraging the already angry Coordinator.

The blue robot approached Strike Freedom. Kira seized the opportunity to examine its feminine features, with the most obvious being the wigs on its head. For a while, Kira was asking himself of the person behind the cockpit and forgetting that he was dealing with an enemy.

He heard a giggle.

"It's a girl?"

The blue robot backed off from Strike Freedom. It met up with its red-coloured twin and faced Strike Freedom. Kira thought they would make no further move and activated DRAGOON cannons, aiming its system at them.

Then something went amiss.

"Where the hell did this music come from?!"

The mysterious music had completely set off Kira's aim at the robot duos. Caught in panic, he switched off Strike Freedom's onboard loudspeakers, yet the music kept on playing. Kira ignored the audio disturbance and focused on the twin robots. They were nowhere to be seen! "Where the hell are they?!" he screamed and looked around him. Not even Strike Freedom's sensors could detect the aggressors, and he was forced to use optical system that did not prove to be helpful either.

"Damn it! What they think they're doing?"

That was the mistake Kira should not have done -- underestimating an enemy -- because as soon as he looked left the blue robot rammed onto Strike Freedom. The collision sent Strike Freedom across the sky toward the red robot, which later slammed its blade onto Strike Freedom's torso.

"Oh, shit!"

Before he could do anything, Strike Freedom was under assault by the red robot's super-fast blade jabs. Kira tried contacting Athrun and Archangel for backup, yet in such a condition he was unable to concentrate his focus.

The red robot had finished its move. Strike Freedom was now sent to the blue robot, and received similar, if not more severe, beatings. Not only Kira was appalled by the ferocity of the combined attack, he was also astounded to see the two robots in action, as if they were dancing rather than performing battle tactics.

**_Indeed, they were dancing_. **

_"Kira! Can you hear me?!" _

He reached for the radio panel and pressed the button. "Lacus…" he murmured the name. "Help…"

_"Hang on there! Reinforcements are on the way!"_ the pink-haired Coordinator cried.

"I can't hold on…" Kira groaned and yelped when Strike Freedom's wing was snapped off its back.

The two robots now performed a synchronized attack. They danced and danced to the mysterious background music that was also heard by Archangel crews as they intensified their attack on Strike Freedom. While most of them covered their eyes in horror, unable to see the strongest Mobile Suit punished by the intruders, some of them even silently tapped their feet to the cheerful beat.

"I can't believe I'd actually see the Dance of Death with my own eyes…" Mu murmured.

"What? What's exactly going on?" Murrue demanded. "Mu, what do you know about the robots?"

The Man Who Can Make the Impossible Possible frowned. "If my guesses were right… then Kira's facing an enemy like nothing before." Immediately he slammed his fist on the control panel and screamed into the mouthpiece. _"Kira! If you can hear me, you must eject from Freedom! You can't survive the aggressors!" _

"How am I supposed to leave Freedom?" Kira replied. "I can't leave it behind!"

_"Don't be an idiot! Do as what I said!"_ Mu screamed back.

_"Kira! Just do it!"_ Athrun yelled over the radio. _"You can't win this battle! Forget it!"_

"And let them escape after what they did to you? Athrun, do you think I'M GOING TO LET THEM????" Kira screamed.

The two robots knocked Strike Freedom away from them, knocking everything onboard the MS Unit including the radio. Kira was now cut off from the outside world, and he was helpless against the ferocity of the duo as their attacks became even more furious.

The twin robots ended their synchronized attack. Now that Strike Freedom was crippled, the mysterious aggressors would stop at nothing to finish what they had started. Kira, nevertheless, would not give up without fighting and he knew he would not simply die without delivering his desperate attack.

And he would.

"LET'S GO, FREEDOM!"

Strike Freedom fired its DRAGOON assault cannons. All its beams converged into one gigantic particle beam and pierced through the sky. It hit the two robots just as they headed towards Strike Freedom, and engulfed them in a fiery explosion.

"Did I make it?"

The explosion dissipated. Kira was appalled at what he saw. The robots were completely unharmed!

"It… IT CANNOT BE!"

There would be no mercy for Kira, as the two robots combined as one entity, headed straight towards the ill-fated Strike Freedom and rammed through it.

_"…no way…!" _

Strike Freedom fell freely from high altitude. The force of the collision was more than enough to rip it off its armoured pieces, and the MS Unit was no more than a piece of debris. The mysterious attackers turned around and rocketed across the sky in high speed. Kira could only watch from the cockpit's open section, as the two robots made a last flyby over him.

_"That was fun, Mr. Yamato." _

Kira was terrified. How did they know his name? No; that was not the case! Why did they fight with him?! There had to be logical explanations behind it!

_"Until we meet again." _

No; he'd rather die than to meet the Dancers of Death! He'd rather perish as a dignified Coordinator than to accept lose to a girl!

_"Let's go, Shine." _

_"Yes, Latooni." _

The two robots disappeared. Seconds passed before Strike Freedom exploded.

**_"Kira? KIRAAAAA!!!!!" _**

-x-x-x-x-x-

He woke up. Thick sweat drenched from his face, dampened his entire pyjamas and drenched the blanket. His heart pounded wildly against his chest, running out of control as if he had just finished a 10-mile drift course onboard tweaked Skyline.

Finally after 10 minutes of complete silence…

"What… what the hell was that dream about?!" Kira screamed aloud. (His bellows echoed through every corner of Archangel, startling everyone who listened to it.) Palming and shaking his head in utmost disgrace, Kira gave his face repeated slaps to awaken him from the weird nightmare. He swore to himself if he was to experience more bad dreams he would be dead by the time they ended.

"Damn it. I just want to sleep."

He closed his eyes and slumped into a doze. He did not care whether he would miss his training mission, or whether Lacus would frown at him for not being punctual. He needed to have enough rest, and he seriously had to.

His ears caught a cheerful-sounding song from outside his room. He paid attention to the intriguing song, which was later followed by a dialogue spoken between two or more people. He recognized one of the voices as Lacus' but could not tell who the other twos were.

_"Oh, I forgot to inform you that Admiral Yamato hasn't woken up. May I instead lead both of you to the cafeteria? We can talk a lot more about us while waiting for him." _

_"Aw, I thought I could meet Mr. Yamato right now. He's a strong Coordinator, isn't he Shine?" _

Kira gasped. "Mr. Yamato? Shine? IT CANNOT BE!"

_"Latooni, remember that we aren't here to have a fight with anyone onboard Archangel. We're here to represent the Earth Federation Army. Remember?" _

_"I know, Shine, I know." _

Latooni? His mind was calculating the probability of having encounter with the two people. It took him seconds before Kira learned the truth.

And truth was never more painful as this.

**It was the freaking same people he met in his dream! **

_He laughed in submission. "Oh, god, what hath Thou done?" _

-x-x-x-x-x-

**Author's note**: I, as the writer of this story, hold no responsibility over the consequences of reading this story, whether it is flaming comments or angry responses. It is meant to be a one-shot pilot episode of my upcoming crossover fan fiction, and I have to remind readers that none of the characters were hurt during the production of this episode.

Till then, cheers.


End file.
